Wilbert the Forest Engine
"Wilbert the Forest Engine" was first published in 1994. It was written by Christopher Awdry and illustrated by Clive Spong. =Stories= Percy's Porridge Donald and Douglas are exhausted, so the Fat Controller arranges to borrow an engine, Wilbert (named after the Reverend W. Awdry) from the Dean Forest Railway. Percy is disappointed to hear Wilbert may not come to Thomas' branch line, but forgets it when the weather becomes cold and wet. One day at Elsbridge, the stationmaster and a porter are stacking poorly-closed sacks of oatmeal on the platform. When Percy comes in, some sacks fall on the ground, scattering oatmeal everywhere. Percy runs into the sacks and is covered in the resulting glop, and Wilbert is quickly re-routed to Thomas' branch line to take Percy's place. Cab Over Wheels Wilbert's first job is at the lead mines. Thomas warns him to follow the rules there, but Wilbert, who once worked in a colliery, knows what to do, and proceeds to tell the engines the story of Sixteen, a bored engine who worked at a steelworks taking trucks of waste to a place called the "tip". Sixteen wanted to go pass a "danger" board, despite several warnings not to, and managed to do so one wet day, attributing it to the trucks. Sixteen's fireman was told to shunt him back, but too late: some unsafe rails tilted and Sixteen landed on his side on the ground. He was sent to the shed in disgrace, but luckily for him he was bought and now works in the Midlands. Foaming at the Funnel There is a dairy at Toryreck. Wilbert is given the job of taking milk tankers to Knapford each morning. One day, he spends too much time talking to James at Knapford, and has to take on water at the dairy. Unfortunately, he stops at the wrong hosepipe and instead of water being poured into his tank, milk flows in! Thomas takes him back to Ffarquhar, and Wilbert's tank is emptied out. Wired-Up Percy returns and Wilbert is sent to Duck's branch line, where Duck, Oliver and the small engines make him welcome. One day, Wilbert is taking some ballast trucks to Tidmouth when the coupling gear on a truck falls off. Thinking quickly, Wilbert borrows a coil of wire and has it looped the hole and his coupling. Wilbert gets home safely, and when it's time for Wilbert to return to the Dean Forest railway the Fat Controller has no doubts about him. =Featured Characters= * Thomas * James * Percy * Toby * Wilbert * Sixteen * Bert * Duck (does not speak) * Donald and Douglas (do not speak) * Oliver (does not speak) * Daisy (does not speak) * Jock (does not speak) * Mike (does not speak) * Annie and Clarabel (cameo) * Henrietta (cameo) * Rex (mentioned) =Trivia= * "Percy's Porridge" was written as an exercise in creative writing by a class at Abingdon School, and therefore the book is dedicated to them. Category:Railway Series Books